Crete Travel Guide

Chania consists of the Old and the New Towns, which blend into a harmonious whole. The Old Town is the historic centre of the city, and all its building are scheduled for preservation.

There are five quarters, without any distinct dividing lines between them: Top Hana (or Topanas), Ovriaki, Syntrivani, Splantza (Plaza) and Kastelli. Narrow alleyways twist in and out among the Venetian and Turkish buildings – signs of the conquerors who once ruled over this place.

The Old town is surrounded by fifteenth-century Venetian walls which are a good example of the military architecture of the time. There are also sections of the medieval wall which have been incorporated into later buildings.

Topanas is the westernmost part of the Old Tow, and it has Venetian mansions lining medieval lanes. Under the Turks, this was the aristocratic Christian quarter, and the Great Powers had their consulates here. The name is of Turkish origin, coming from the topia or cannon in the San Salvatore bastion.

The northernmost part of the area, at the entrance to the harbor, is occupied by the Firkas Fortress, built in 1629. This was where the Greek flag was first raised in 1930 to mar the island’s union with Greece.

Now the Fortress houses the Chania Maritime Museum and there is an open-air theatre. Over the entrance towers a Venetian lighthouse, built in the sixteenth century.

To the south of Topanas and to the left of the large Venetian church of St Francis – which now houses the Archeological Museum – is the Jewish Quarter (Ovriaki).

To the south of this area is the Schiavo or Lando Bastion, together with a section of wall. The old quarter of Syntrivani centers around Eleftheriou Venizelou Square, which was the heart of Chania at the time when Crete was independent. All the pioneers of art and intellectual life in early twentieth century Crete met here.

Around stand some old buildings, including the Mosque of Hasan Pasha, and Arab building which now houses the municipal information bureau, and theHarbor Kiosk, on the site of the old customs house.

The Kastelli quarter, on the east side of the harbor, was the acropolis of ancient Cydonia. In 1252, the Venetians used the site to build their Castel Vecchio, perhaps because of some sort of Byzantine fortress was already in position there.

The palazzo of the Venetian governor of Chania stood of the highest point. Later, under the Turks, the pashas had their quarters there. Today, none of the buildings in this district has survived with the exception of the north side of the wall.

The Splantza or Plaza quarter is to the north-east of Chania, close to Kastelli and the harbor with its boat-sheds built by the Venetians in the late fifteenth century. Today, nine of the twenty three arches under which ships were once repaired have survived.

The square in this part of the town is dominated by the Church of St Nicholas, once a part of Dominican monastery, which the Turks converted into The Mosque of Sultan Ibrahim.

Behind the church is the little Venetian chapel of St Rocco, with the Church of Sts Cosmas and Damien a little further on. This was a Turkish quarter under Ottoman rule.

Among the walls, the best-known districts are Kum Kapi (the name means ‘sea gate’), the attractive and historic district of Halepa, Kainourgia Chora and Bolari.